


No Mistakes // Only Happy Accidents

by mannarose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Embarrassment, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Intoxication, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mannarose/pseuds/mannarose
Summary: After a lab accident leaves you under the influence of a chemical cocktail, you can no longer hide your deeper feelings for your dearest friend, Steve. You’ve never told him, convinced he would be kind, but uninterested. Little do you know…
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 173





	1. No Mistakes...

**Author's Note:**

> I have a deep need for all the fluff at the moment, so I thought I’d throw my sweetheart Steve some love. This is pure candy, something sweet and fluffy and attempting to be funny.

Steve burst through the doors into the medical wing with his heart racing in terror. Not much could frighten him, but the news you’d been in some kind of lab accident had done the trick.

“Heeey, Cap!” Clint stepped in front of Steve, nearly getting bowled over in the process. Still, he dug in his heels and stopped Steve’s forward progress with an effort. Nat had given him a task, so he was gonna do it.

“Where’s y/n? Is she okay? What happened?” Clint smirked at the sound of Steve trying to sound authoritative despite the wobble in his voice. Maybe they should let the two of you hang out after all.

“There was an explosion in the lab.” Clint had his hands on Steve’s chest, holding him back from pushing through the last door to see you, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Only Steve's natural inclination toward courtesy under almost all circumstances kept him from pushing Clint to the side to see you for himself.

Your friendship wasn't one of those things that had happened quickly, his natural shyness and your reserve keeping you from having a conversation about anything but work for weeks after you’d started to work with Bruce in the lab. Instead, it was something that grew slowly, over time, like a crystal, each atom falling perfectly into place to create a stable structure. It may not have been romantic, but Captain America had taught Steve how hollow romance could be.

Steve didn't know when he started seeking your company above all others, but by the time he noticed, you were one of his dearest and closest friends. He trusted you, knew he could count on you. Despite the fact that he’d never said it aloud, he adored you, and the thought that you might be hurt had him frantic.

"An explosion!?" He didn’t realize he was leaning against Clint’s restraining hands, trying to see around the window in the door in an attempt to get a glimpse of you.

“Steve, calm down.” Clint couldn’t keep the amusement out of his voice or off his face. If he hadn’t promised Nat he’d keep Steve out, he’d let the man go. He was certain Steve in this mood interacting with you in your current predicament would be the funniest thing he’d seen all week. “She's okay; she wasn't harmed, and the effects will wear off in a few hours.”

“A few hours!? What the hell happened!?” Steve was relieved to hear that you were unharmed, but deeply perturbed by all of the information he didn’t have. He'd be more relieved by Clint's apparent lack of concern, but Clint was relentlessly casual regardless of the circumstances. Steve couldn't be sure you were okay until he saw for himself.

_Is that Steve!?_

Steve felt the muscles in his neck relax and he stopped pushing so hard on Clint when, thanks to his enhanced hearing, he heard your voice. On the other hand, he'd never heard you sound quite like that. You sounded happy, excitable, downright bubbly.

_No_. Bucky, however, sounded as he often did. Downright surly. Except he had a soft spot for you, so he generally spoke much more gently than this stern and irritated denial. Steve didn't know why Bucky would lie to you, as he could undoubtedly hear Steve with as much ease as Steve could hear him. But now that he'd heard you speak, relief let Steve ease back to gather information.

Actually looking at Clint for the first time, Steve frowned. "What effects?"

The next moment, Steve's head was snapping up at the sound of your voice, louder, closer, and much more demanding. _I wanna see Steve!_ You sounded offended, like someone was trying to stop you.

The next words out of Bucky didn't make sense, but made your tone make more sense. _Can someone muzzle her before he hears this? He's right the fuck outside._ Steve didn't know why, but it appeared that your friends and teammates had decided that the two of you should be kept apart for the moment. He was fascinated.

Clint was answering Steve's question, unaware that he was also listening to the conversation going on in the other room. "She got, like, a face full of the stuff she was messing with." At this Steve became concerned once more. You worked in R & D, specializing in organic chemistry. 'Stuff' could be all sorts of things.

"Banner said it messed with her brain so some parts that should be dark are lit up and parts that should be lit up are dark. All together it means she has no fear, no inhibitions, no verbal filter, and, at least for now, the cheerful disposition of a happy drunk, unless…" The look of horror that had overtaken Steve's face at the description of the accident faded to a look of sympathetic humor. He'd seen you intoxicated. If this was anything like that, you were acting the holy terror even as they spoke.

Clint grinned and finished, "Nat decided she should be isolated as much as possible."

_Stevie's so good, and pretty, and…oof!_ Under the singsong of your voice, Steve could hear his best friend muttering even as he sounded like he was struggling with something.

"Then why is Bucky in there?" With that Steve made to push past Clint. Now that he had the lay of the land, he was fully prepared to go help. You were infinitely precious to him; he'd hardly go back to the rest of his day when you'd had an accident and needed someone to take care of you. When Clint stopped him again, he reacted with exasperation. "What!?"

"That's probably not a good idea." Clint was having a very hard time making himself care anymore. If Nat hadn't explicitly told him to not let Steve through the doors, he'd take him back personally. He knew it'd be more fun than this.

"Okay," Steve demanded, "what's going on?"

Apparently, his voice was now loud enough to carry to you, as he heard you chirp happily through the door. _Steve!?_

"She'd be embarrassed if you heard some of the things she's saying." Clint was super proud of himself for telling the truth without giving too much away. Nat had also forbidden him from telling Steve what exactly you'd been saying to get him banned from you. "She's basically tanked."

_Steve! Natasha is annoying me!_ Under the nasal, tattle-tale sound of your voice came the sound of a scuffle. Steve was pretty sure now that you weren't in any danger. He wasn't sure, however, whether he wanted to know what was going on anymore.

A laugh in his voice, he asked, "I've spent plenty of time with her when she was drunk; why is this different?"

"Steve! Now she's hitting me, too! Now she's trying to muffle my screams, STEVE!"

At the sound of your clearly audible voice being muffled by what sounded like a pillow, Clint raised his brows and looked up, chuckling. "You could hear her the whole time, couldn't you?"

Steve just nodded and pulled Clint away from the door. He had heard the unmistakable sounds of your escape and sprint down the hall. Based on the slap of running bare feet on tile, he expected you to come barreling through the door in three… two… one…

"SSSSTTTTEEEEVVVVIIIIEEEE!!!!!!" He didn't expect, however, for you to launch yourself into his arms. Because he wasn't expecting it, he caught you a lot closer than he would normally. You practically climbed him as you wrapped around him in a happy hug.

Though he knew he should, he couldn't seem to make himself extricate himself from your embrace, even as he realized you were less clothed than he'd ever seen you. It seemed to be a day for firsts.

For example, you noisily and happily kissed Steve all over his face as you babbled. "You’re so pretty! Look at how pretty you are! And you’re sweet and good and kind and I’m so glad you’re my friend." With one last smacking kiss on Steve's shocked mouth, you dropped to your feet. With barely a pause, you started out. "I’m hungry. Let’s eat."

Steve cleared his throat, not sure how to react to anything that had just happened. To his surprise, the question he heard himself ask was "Why don’t you put your pants on first, doll?"

You didn't even glance backward, let alone pause. "Why?"

With one last baffled look at the other three, Steve followed you out.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Clint burst into gales of delighted laughter. Nat had a half-smile even as she rolled her eyes at him. Bucky was scowling. If they were just going to let you go off with Steve without even an attempt to stop you, why the hell had he spent the last half hour wrestling with your squirmy ass?

"Well," Clint said, philosophically, wiping a tear of joy from his eye, "we tried."

Natasha lifted an amused brow. "We did?"

Clint laughed. "We tried just hard enough to escape any blame for the consequences."

This last sentiment had Bucky finally grinning. "Indeed, we did."

* * *

Steve managed to convince you to go to his rooms instead of the communal kitchen, and in the process discovered the difficulties that Nat, Bucky, and Clint had dealt with while Bruce had examined you. Bucky had been ready to throttle you by the time Bruce pronounced you temporarily a pain in the ass, but ultimately unharmed.

The chemicals you'd been experimenting with, and which had literally blown up in your face, had temporary effects on the brain that affected behavior, but would wear off in time. Your meticulous research notes were helpful, even if you were not, and Bruce could state with certainty that you were perfectly safe, at least physically. He made no promises as to the psychological damage embarrassment might do.

The most concerning thing, and why you needed supervision, was that your amygdala were acting bizarre, the right all but dormant while the left flipped on and off seemingly at random. This meant that your emotions were completely unpredictable, and if that wasn't enough, you literally could not feel fear until the chemical cocktail wore off.

The inability to feel fear meant you were a lot more reckless than normal, and thus a danger to yourself in the meantime. There were also oddities in your frontal lobe, possibly explaining your complete lack of impulse control. Taken together, you were still yourself, but without any filters whatsoever and with sudden bursts of positive emotion.

If you'd known what exactly that meant, you'd have been wearing a full face mask with a respirator while you worked with what you should have considered the most dangerous chemicals of your life.

You felt loose, floaty, utterly relaxed. Your mind was at rest in a way you’d never before experienced. Half the time you were interacting with the world but felt like it couldn’t touch you. It wasn’t a bad feeling, simply detached.

The other half, you were happy to the point of euphoria, like you could punch through the sky if you needed to. You were living in the moment in a way you never had before, and it was completely freeing. With no fear, you weren't thinking in terms of consequences.

When you had a thought, you said it. When you had an impulse, you acted on it.

You were probably going to want to move to another planet when the chemicals wore off.

Because, as Clint, Nat, and Bucky had discovered today and tried to help you keep secret, you had an all-consuming crush on Steve Rogers. Any number of your thoughts were sappily sweet and made Clint gag. A lot of the others were filthy to the point of pornographic and made Bucky think that he’d be happy to comfort you if Steve decided to be stupid.

Nat had already known that you were in love with Steve. Duh. She hadn’t known how creatively obscene your imagination was, but she hadn’t really wanted to, either.

You were scanning Steve’s books while he texted Bucky for help. He needed to feed you before you got it into your head to go looking for sustenance. In the short time he’d been responsible for you, he’d discovered why the others had looked so frazzled. The only way to stop you from doing anything was to physically restrain you. Steve was trying to avoid that as long as you remained clothed in only a t-shirt and underwear.

You'd gone into this strange mode when he'd asked what you wanted to eat, blank and detached. Knowing Bucky would be happy to fetch the food if he didn't have to supervise you anymore, Steve had sent him out for whatever was fastest.

You’d shrugged in response to questions as to what kind of food you wanted and wandered off to stare out the window for several minutes before you moved on to his bookshelf. Steve really wanted to get you seated. Maybe then he could get you covered before you caught him staring at your legs (not to mention your ass).

"Do you want to watch TV while we wait for food?"

You didn't look at him, in one of those phases where the world seemed far too distant to matter. Steve could be staring openly, and you probably wouldn't notice, let alone give a shit. You were intent on Steve's books, looking for something, anything, that could inspire some feeling. It was odd to not have an opinion on anything. "I don’t care."

"Is everything okay?" Steve stepped up next to you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder to draw your attention to him. To his surprise, you didn’t look at him, but your body seemed to automatically sway towards his touch.

You murmured a response but closed your eyes at the warmth of Steve's hand on your arm. "Mm-hmm." The sound of your voice was a purr on the assent. You were feeling now, and it was irresistible.

You had an impulse, so you acted on it.

With another purr, you turned into Steve, sliding your arms around his waist and burying your face in his chest. You breathed in his scent, glorying in the smell of citrus, leather, and pine. Whatever cologne or deodorant he used, you were a huge fan. You rubbed your face back and forth, reveling in the feel against your cheeks of soft cotton over firm muscle.

Steve was absolutely astonished to find you twined around him like a vine. Of all the things he expected, your body wrapping around his before he had a chance to process it was not one of them. His arms came around you automatically, without his conscious thought, but as soon as he had you wrapped close and murmuring happily he wasn't going to let go. Though you and he were close friends, you'd always maintained a careful physical distance between you. He laughed a little when he heard what you were almost cooing.

"I knew it." You hummed and snuggled closer. "I knew it'd be like heaven in a bear hug. My good, kind, pretty Steve." You sighed the last, utterly enraptured by the glory of being held by Steve for the first time. You'd dreamed more than once of what it would be like to be wrapped in his arms, bathing in the scent, the heat of his skin. You'd never thought to find out, too sure you'd only make him uncomfortable should you try to change the dynamic of your friendship.

Unwilling to risk losing the most vital relationship you had, you'd been meticulous in your efforts to make sure Steve always knew that you valued him without ever giving any indication that you were half-in-love and all-the-way-in-lust with him. Until today, you'd been mostly successful.

Steve was doing everything he could to remind himself that you were under the influence of chemicals that had changed your brain activity. Nothing you said or did could be taken at face value, no matter how he wanted to believe that you felt about him the same way he felt about you.

He felt guilty, but he couldn't stop himself from reveling in your changed demeanor. No matter how he scolded himself, he didn't try to stop you from snuggling closer. Rather, his arms tightened, and his head dipped to press his lips against your hair. "Y/N?" You didn't answer, too busy melting in the heat from Steve's body, the pure pleasure of it distracting you completely.

"Sweetheart?" he tried again, this time prompting a hum of acknowledgement even as your hands slid slowly up the muscles of his back. "Why are you being so affectionate?"

To his surprise, you answered immediately, and it sounded as though you were speaking the plain and unvarnished truth. "I always want to," you sighed, and turned your face into his neck to brush your lips across the skin of his throat. "I don't because I'm afraid, but I adore you. I want to show you all the time."

Steve was astonished. He'd had no idea. You'd never, by word or by deed, indicated that you wanted anything more than friendship from him. He was sure he would have noticed, too aware of everything about you to have missed any signal. He had to wonder if he was misinterpreting your answer. "What are you afraid of?"

"Oh, you know," you sounded vaguely amused, but largely unconcerned. "Rejection, humiliation, heartbreak, failure. The usual." You started moving gently against him, brushing your body against his, your mind almost blank but for the pleasure of Steve's scent fogging your brain, his warmth melting your bones.

Steve couldn't speak for a moment, not expecting the purely carnal rush your undulating body would inspire inside him. His fingers dug into the skin of your back reflexively in response before he made himself loosen his hold. "But you're not afraid now." It was a statement, a reminder to himself that you had taken a face full of chemicals that left you vulnerable. He was taking advantage of that by asking you these questions right now.

Your voice was a sultry whisper as you slipped your arms around Steve's neck, sliding your hands into his hair. "As a matter of fact, I'm not." The next thing he knew, you were using your leverage to pull your lips to his and he was sinking into the heaven of your kiss.

He'd dreamed, fantasized a thousand times about how your lips would feel against his, how your mouth would taste. Now that he had an answer, he realized how limited those questions had been. He could write sonnets to the softness of your lips, the spice of your mouth. But he also hadn't considered the sweetness of your sighs as he tasted your breath, or the velvet of your tongue as it pressed against his.

Steve's conscience cleared its throat. "Okay," he said, breaking the kiss and panting. "Okay, this is…" He trailed off as, denied his mouth, you opted for the salt of his skin and fastened your teeth around his throat. You weren't thinking any more, awash in sensation, giving in to the desire that coursed through you.

"Wonderful…" he whispered, stretching his neck to give you better access. It almost hurt to restrain his hands from wandering down to close around your ass. He wanted you like air. "But we have to stop…" He was groaning the words as he reached up to pull your hands from around his neck. He stepped back, the temptation of your eyes heavy-lidded with desire and lips swollen from his kiss almost too much.

"Why?" You pouted and stepped forward to bring your body against his once more. His belly tightened with lust.

The pout on your mouth, coupled with the undulation of your body against his broke his will, if only for a moment. Steve gave into temptation and leaned forward to close his teeth around your lower lip. You hummed happily and sank back into the kiss. Lost in the moment, lost in him, you gave yourself up to it, overjoyed to discover that Steve wanted you, too.

Steve's conscience was getting impatient. He lifted his hand to your cheek and drew his mouth away. Putting his forehead against yours, he gasped for breath. "Because…" He trailed off again when you slid your hand under the hem of his shirt and gently brushed your fingertips along the skin of his hip. You giggled, happy that you could so easily distract him.

Steve shuddered out a breath and resisted the urge to take your mouth again. He tried again. "Because…" He didn't get far before you were twining around him once more, running your hands over his back under his shirt.

Steve was genuinely grateful to hear the knock at the door. He was having a very hard time resisting you. You seemed perfectly lucid, making it hard for him to remember that you were not thinking clearly. Almost desperately, he tried to gently extricate himself from your silken limbs. "Because Bucky's here with food."

"I don't want food." As you spoke, Bucky walked in carrying a couple of pizza boxes. You didn't acknowledge him, too lost in Steve. You stepped forward once more, this time to snuggle against him. "I want you." Your eyes were liquid and soft as you looked at Steve. He froze, caught in the expression on your face. He ached to ask you what that expression meant, but held himself back, knowing it wasn't fair.

Bucky laughed as he dropped the pizza on the coffee table in front of the couch. His eyes crinkled in delighted humor, he chuckled immoderately and called out as he turned to leave, "Good luck with that, punk!" He couldn't wait to tell Sam about this.

Not thinking, Steve wrapped his arms back around you. He couldn't seem to stop himself. "You could help, jerk!"

Your voice was muffled, but the amusement came through loud and clear. "I didn't think threesomes would be your thing, Steve, but I'm willing to hear your thoughts on the subject."

Bucky laughed again, his enhanced hearing easily catching your words. He turned around, shrugging amiably. "If that's the kind of help you need--"

Steve simply raised a brow. "Thank you, Buck. Good-bye now."

Bucky's cheek lifted in a cocky half-smile and he shrugged again, this time philosophically and turned back to the door. "Let me know if she changes your mind," he called out as he made his exit.

Steve rubbed his big, warm palm up and down your spine, making you feel like you were melting again. "Will you come sit with me, sweetheart?"

The endearment made your heart beat fast and your throat close. In the next moment, you'd switched off. Docile and apathetic, you didn't resist or protest when Steve guided you to the couch. You ate when he handed you a slice of pizza, but you did so because you were hungry, not because you took any pleasure in the act. Steve put on the television for noise, not really paying attention to what was playing, and sat quietly next to you, eating pizza and watching you stare into space.

"You've gone away again, haven't you?" Steve found it fascinating to watch you turn on and off. When you were in this detached mode, he could see where you went when you were working. Coldly logical to the point of indifference when in the lab, he'd been astonished the first time he'd spent time with you outside of work and had found the warm woman he'd come to adore underneath.

"Mm-hmm." You murmured the assent as you had your mouth full of pizza. You were on your second piece, but you could feel yourself getting full. Since nothing but hunger kept you going, your movements automatically slowed. You were staring at the television, but you weren't really seeing it. It was a _Friends_ rerun. Even if you hadn't seen it, which you probably had, you weren't in a headspace where you could begin to give a shit about it.

Steve frowned at the blank expression on your face, starting to get concerned by your demeanor. "Sweetheart," he said softly, and the endearment caught your attention in a way nothing else had, "do you feel okay?"

"I don't feel anything," you replied easily as you polished off your pizza.

Steve found it deeply unsettling to hear you say something so disturbing in such an offhand tone, but it was the emotionless gaze you turned on him that actually chilled him. He hadn't realized how warm your eyes normally were when they met his until they weren't anymore. Without thinking, he lifted his hand to your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek.

The heat of his hand as it pressed against your face and neck, the feel of his fingers tangling in your hair, seemed to flip that switch inside your brain. Your eyes fluttered closed in pleasure, but not before Steve saw them begin to warm and glow. In the next moment, you were climbing into his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck and tucking your face into his throat.

Steve saw his chance and snagged the blanket behind him across the back of the couch. He threw it over you, then wrapped his arms tightly around you, partly to keep you close, partly to keep you covered. You sighed happily and snuggled deeper into his chest, snuffling at his neck like a puppy and making him laugh.

"I love how you smell," you whispered, the longing in your voice bringing an ache to Steve's throat.

He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the desire that coursed through him at the feel of your breath on his skin. "We're going to have some interesting conversations in the near future."

Your mouth was against his skin as you replied, and you could feel the shudder of arousal that worked through him at the sensation. "About what?"

Steve took a trembling breath, trying and failing to put the feel of your lips against his skin out of his mind. "About us," he murmured, his voice low with barely restrained need.

"I like the sound of that." Steve could hear the smile in your voice and knew that if he could see your face, you'd be wearing his favorite soft expression. His arms tightened around you in pure affection. "You know," you went on, sounding even happier, "nothing has made me feel better all day. Except you."

"I feel that way about you all the time." The words were out of Steve's mouth before he thought better of them. He held his breath, waiting for your response.

You sighed, both sweet and melancholy. "If I let myself, I could fall hard for you, Steve." You laughed a little. "Hell, I'm already crazy about you. You're the best person I've ever known." As you spoke, your voice got drowsier and more slurred, until you went completely limp against him.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" were the last words you heard before you fell asleep like a toddler, completely and seemingly instantaneously.

* * *

You woke slowly, warm and comfortable, contented in a way you couldn't remember ever experiencing before. You were cradled in arms, against a wall of a chest, that was both solid and gentle. The warmth from his body had settled into your bones, leaving you pliant and relaxed. He seemed to be sleeping, too, and for some reason that charmed you more than anything else. Steve had fallen asleep while holding you. Heart eyes, motherfucker.

That said, now that you were awake, and as far as you could tell, clear-headed, you were also completely, utterly, and catastrophically humiliated. You had broadcast your deepest darkest secret to two of the worst possible people. (Natasha didn't count; she already knew. Honestly, you'd have been surprised if she hadn't.)

You had ended up parading around half-naked and all because of some random impulse you'd had and a weirdly stubborn insistence on following through. They had had to restrain you, and to be fair, they'd been right to do so. You had not been in any condition to do anything but sit down until the drugs wore off.

To top it all off, you'd thrown yourself at Steve with no shame. You'd told him how you felt with no filters. And you'd offered yourself to him with no conditions. He had graciously declined, albeit with good reason, but part of you resented how easily, it seemed, he resisted.

You wondered if you could sneak off his lap and back to the medical wing to check your brain without waking Steve. You knew you'd have to deal with what happened earlier, but you kind of wanted a minute to yourself to take stock before you had to face him.

"Captain Ro--"

You hissed at the sound of FRIDAY's voice coming over the intercom. "FRIDAY, shut up!"

"I apologize, Ms. Y/L/N, Dr. Banner is trying to reach Captain Rogers." FRIDAY spoke more quietly, but you were watching the corners of Steve's mouth twitching and knew it was too late. You weren't getting out of here.

Steve opened his pretty blue eyes, the sear of them burning into yours. "It's okay, FRIDAY. Will you tell Dr. Banner that if he's checking on Y/N, I’d like to bring her down so he can examine her, if he wouldn't mind."

"Yes, sir."

You cleared your throat sternly, a sneer curling your lip. "Excuse you, bossy."

Steve's smile widened into a delighted grin. "There you are," he said, affectionately. "How do you feel?"

Deciding there was no reason to lie now, you went with the truth, letting it ride. "Humiliated."

"Why?" he asked, his smile, his eyes softening.

Your expression twisted into a wry half-smile. "My memory was in no way affected by the chemicals I inadvertently ingested, Steve." You lifted a brow but kept that wry smile. "I'm fully aware of and embarrassed by my behavior."

His smile turned sad. It was all you could do to not lean in and kiss the sadness away. "Does that mean you didn't mean any of it? It was just the chemicals?"

Steve was struck by that same soft and liquid look you'd given him earlier. Your voice a rasp, you answered. "No. It wasn't just the chemicals." Now he saw sadness come into your eyes and it was all he could to do to not lean in and kiss the sadness away. "Unless you need everything to go back to the way it was." You scoffed out a little laugh, then spoke as if by rote. "Then no, I didn't mean any of it. It was just the chemicals."

Steve's eyes warmed once more. He gave into temptation, leaning in to nuzzle his mouth and nose against yours. "Some chemicals," he murmured. "You told me you were crazy about me, that you adored me."

You slid your arms around Steve's neck, snuggling closer. "Did I? Huh." You nipped at his lower lip, your lips curving in a sultry half-smile this time. "And what did you say back?"

"I didn't." Steve's expression turned serious, and you could feel the tension in the shoulders beneath your hands. "Too afraid you didn't mean any of it, that it was just the chemicals."

You turned serious in return. Steve was the sort who needed to know where he stood. You could respect that. "I’m not going to lie to you unless you ask it," you warned, giving him one last out from changing things between you forever.

"I always want the truth," he replied, "no matter what."

You searched his face for a long moment, needing to be sure before you laid your heart bare. Seeing everything you wanted in front of you if you only had the courage to reach out and take it, you opened your mouth without the slightest clue what was about to come out. "The chemicals removed my ability to keep my feelings to myself. The feelings themselves were always mine."

When the smile broke over Steve's face like dawn, you were so grateful to whatever part of your brain decided to go with the truth.

"So am I." Steve leaned in and pressed his lips to yours, the kiss both firm and soft, conveying both desire and affection. "Yours, I mean," he said when you came up for air, apparently worried that he needed to clarify. You giggled, then once more used your leverage from your hands in all that thick blond hair to bring his mouth back to yours.

Running your tongue over his bottom lip, you immediately took advantage when his lips parted in response. Your tongue slipped inside his mouth to draw his out to tangle with yours. With a moan in his throat, he gave in to both the allure of the kiss and you, his hot hands coming up to cup your face, tilting your head for a better angle.

When you broke apart to breathe, you attacked his throat with lips and tongue and teeth, desperate for more of him. "Okay," he panted, his hands gripping your shoulders, but pulling you closer rather than pulling you away as he had intended. "First, you need pants." Steve stopped to groan a little in his throat, trying to make himself stop you from what you were doing, specifically, sucking on his earlobe. He didn't know why it was driving him crazy, but he was hard as a rock and trying to think straight.

"Second, brain scan." You giggled again and buried your face in his neck, thoroughly enchanted by the almost pained groan in his tone in response to the feel of your mouth on his skin. You also couldn’t help but be impressed by his ability to focus despite your determined efforts to distract him. “By the way,” he continued, “I never did find out why you took your pants off in the first place.”

You were grateful your face was hidden in his throat. You were snickering as you answered but part of that was helpless embarrassment. If only you had the fuzziness liquor can bring to memories, but no, your memory was crystal clear. “They got torn off when Bucky was trying to restrain me without hurting me.”

“Jeez,” Steve dipped his head in an attempt to see your face. He loved how you looked alight with laughter. 'How big of a pain in the ass were you?" His voice was a teasing smile and coaxed you into tilting your head back to grin at him.

"Oh," you said, considering, "a stunningly large pain in the ass." Though Steve had said he wanted to get you pants and your brain scanned, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to move. You snuggled further into his chest, content to stay there as long as he'd hold you. "I wanted Clint to teach me how to shoot his bow and I was being very insistent."

Steve burst out laughing. He could see why they'd restrained you. He wouldn't have put a weapon in your hand under those circumstances, either. However, he hadn't noticed a need to be that forceful with you. "You weren't that bad with me."

You slid your arms around Steve's neck and pulled yourself face-to-face with him once more, your expression warm and inviting. "They didn't have your secret weapon for distracting me."

"What's that?" Steve wasn't quite sure why, but something about the look on your face had his heart racing. He was starting to think that he was in over his head.

You leaned forward to brush your mouth gently against his. "They weren't Steve Rogers." You spoke against his mouth, then sank back into the joy that was Steve's kiss. He moaned a little and sank along with you. You kept your eyes open long enough to see his eyes flutter closed in pleasure and the sight had your heart stumbling over how unbelievably sweet he was.

You had kicked the blanket off and turned to straddle him before Steve remembered himself. His hands were on your hips and he was being happily eaten alive by the fire of you. He hadn't known you were capable of burning so hot, but he was nevertheless unsurprised. One of the thousand reasons he adored you was your hidden depths of passion.

Steve stood, suddenly, and for a brief, giddy moment, you thought he was going to finally take you to bed. Instead, he pulled his mouth from yours to grit out the words, "Pants. Brain scan. Then this… conversation."

Determined now, Steve took long strides toward the door, still holding you by your thighs wrapped around his waist. Wiggling a bit to indicate you'd rather walk, you lifted an amused brow. "Need to make sure I'm of sound mind?"

Steve stopped and rearranged his hold on you so that he was supporting your torso until your feet were under you. Once you were standing firm in front of him, he took your chin in his hand and leaned in for a quick, but scorching kiss. "For what I want to do to you? Yes."

You gaped at him, but the lust that shivered through you was also written all over your face. Steve's smile turned smug when you exclaimed, your excitement plain, "Captain!" You slipped your hand in his and pulled him toward the door and the lab. Your smile sultry to match his smug, you purred, "I'm intrigued."


	2. ... Only Happy Accidents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a lab accident leaves you under the influence of a chemical cocktail, you can no longer hide your deeper feelings for your dearest friend, Steve. You’ve never told him, convinced he would be kind, but uninterested. Now that you know that Steve is as attracted to you as you are to him, will the change to your relationship be a good one?

Your back made contact with Steve’s bedroom door at almost the same moment his lips made contact with yours. You made a little 'oof' noise as the force of his body meeting yours pushed the air out of your lungs. "Sorry," he muttered against your mouth.

You giggled, then hummed, “‘S okay,” because you were not complaining. Steve's hands were gripping your ass firmly as his mouth fed greedily from yours. You had your hands in his hair and were considering climbing him like a tree until you were wrapped around him again. The way his fingers were digging into your flesh, you suspected he'd be all too happy to assist you.

Once Bruce had pronounced you recovered and rational once again, the energy between you and Steve had changed. There was nothing standing between you now.

That knowledge had settled beneath your skin, warming and charging it as you walked back to Steve's rooms to, ostensibly, talk about the change in your relationship now that you were no longer the mad science equivalent of three sheets to the wind.

You’d decided you didn’t really need to talk when Steve, blushing and stammering, had calmed the moment you took his hand in yours.

He had looked down at your fingers twining with his, then up to the soft smile on your face, and something inside him settled. He smiled sweetly in return, bringing your hand up to his mouth to brush his lips over the back.

Your heart kicked once, hard, then settled into a fluttering rhythm in response to Steve and his ridiculously pretty face. The expression there was one you'd seen a hundred times, but it never failed to make you melt a little. His mouth was quirked up in a sweet, crooked smile, his eyes crinkled adorably at the corners and warm with affection.

Now, however, you knew that warmth came from more than simple affection. You’d felt Steve’s arousal against you, had seen the shine of desire in his eyes when he’d leaned in to kiss you and his reluctance when he’d pulled away. That knowledge made it easy to reach out, to soothe his nerves with a soft touch and even softer eyes.

He breathed in the scent of your skin, then started moving faster towards his rooms. He wasn't certain what was going to happen next, though the laughing smile you shot him when he pulled you into a faster walk had his hopes soaring.

"Why didn't you ever say anything, sweetheart?" Steve couldn't help but ask. You had placed a polite but firm wall between the two you from the moment you and he had become friends. It was clear that had it not been for the lab accident, you would never had made your deeper feelings known. He was afraid that you didn't actually want what the kind of relationship he did, regardless of how you might desire him physically.

Your expression was infinitely tender as you squeezed his hand gently and hurried to keep up with him. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't think you'd want me to," he murmured. Sadness settled around his eyes and made your heart hurt. The two of you had arrived at his rooms, but he paused before he walked through, turning with a guarded expression.

You could see the nerves and insecurity chase each other across his face and softened like butter in the sun. You stepped forward, certainty flowing through you. You lifted your hand to his cheek. "May I come in?"

Steve grinned, his heart lightening at the look in your eyes. "Always," he replied, drawing you by the hand through the door.

Once the door was closed behind you, you were moving into Steve's embrace with the same confidence you'd shown under the influence of the chemicals. The confidence came from understanding; you knew Steve needed both honesty and directness.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, nuzzling into his chest and throat with your nose and mouth. He hummed softly and closed his arms around you in return, snuggling you into the warmth of his body.

"Steve." You breathed his name, and the sound sent a shiver down his spine. It took him a moment to focus on what you were saying. "Your friendship is one of the most important relationships I have. I never told you how I felt because I never thought you'd want me back, and I couldn't risk something so crucial on a longshot."

Steve's arms tightened, both shock and indignation rocking through him. "A longshot!?" He sounded downright insulted on your behalf, making you laugh a little under your breath.

"Uh, yeah." You infused your tone with all the exasperation you could muster. "You're… you! You're so good and loyal and true, but funny and reckless and wild. To be your friend was…” You struggled for words for a moment, almost irritated to have to explain it. Was he blind to how fucking exceptional he was? “…like a miracle! I didn't want to be greedy.”

Steve’s eyes blazed as his head dipped to yours. His arms pressed you tightly against his chest and his mouth met yours with no shields, no guard. Your heart stumbled in your breast as your eyes fluttered closed in the rush of emotion.

You slid your arms around his neck and pressed even closer, meeting his kiss with the same passion he was pouring into you. You’d never felt needed like this, craved like this, like he was starved for the taste of you. You were delighted, happy to feed him, not to mention relieved and euphoric that you hadn’t destroyed everything you valued with a dumb mistake.

Steve broke the kiss to rest his forehead against yours, his breath fast and excited. “Be greedy,” he growled and took your mouth again.

You didn't really have an option. He was giving you everything he had. You didn't hesitate; you devoured him and gave back eagerly. When he lifted his mouth from yours only to bury it in your neck with a groan of need, you let out a shaky laugh and a quick, “Okay!”

"Mmm-hmm." Steve chuckled a little even as he hummed, testing the texture of the line of your jaw with his lips. He was enthralled by the scent of your skin, enchanted by the feel of your body pressed against his. He couldn't help it; his hands wandered down to close around your ass. The little happy sounds you were making in your throat were humming against his lips, making him smile against the satin of your throat.

“Steve," you murmured, and the throaty sound of your voice combined with your words had his cock twitching in his jeans, "take me to bed.”

Steve stooped, his hands sliding down to your thighs, and boosted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist as he supported your weight easily. He turned toward his bedroom with a happy grin on his sweet face. “Yes, ma’am.”

Which is how you found yourself breathless, with your back to Steve's bedroom door, giggling at his eager mouth on yours as he let your legs fall to support you. You'd suspected he'd be sweet, but he was seducing you with the soft, greedy kisses he pressed to your mouth. Your lips softened against his, your heart melting at his almost shy sweetness.

Gently, with all the affection you'd been holding back, you feathered kisses over his mouth, his cheeks, his nose, his eyes. You wanted to adore him, to drown him in warmth and softness to make up for all the hard and cold he'd had to face in his life. When you opened your eyes to see that gorgeous half-smile that lit up his face, your breath caught a little at how stupidly beautiful he was.

His arms came up to wrap around your waist and all of a sudden the room was spinning. You quickly realized Steve had turned and was carrying you to the bed. Fucking finally.

He set you down next to the bed, his hands sliding down immediately to cup and rub your ass cheeks. You were starting to suspect, by the amount of time you'd had your butt in his hands that day, that Captain America was an ass man. Considering how much attention he was paying to yours, you were going to assume he approved.

You slipped your hands under the hem of his too tight t-shirt. You didn't know how he always managed to wear t-shirts at least one size too small for him, but you thanked who or whatever was responsible with the fervency of the devout. You took a shaky breath at the velvet silk of his skin, your heart throbbing whenever your fingertips found a divot or stripe of scar tissue from a lifetime of fighting and war. Your hands caressed each scar with a tenderness borne of love, of the need to give him a haven, to help him forget.

Steve was starting to feel dizzy at the sensation of your fingertips traveling ever so gently over his skin. He hadn't felt this breathless since before the serum. If he didn't know better, he would swear he was about to have an asthma attack, so exciting was the feeling of your hands on him. He'd never been touched like this, like he was infinitely precious, with infinite tenderness. It took his breath away.

You took his breath away.

You slipped your hands further up inside his shirt until he took the hint and stripped it off. As soon as he did so, you were doing the same with your own, desperate to feel his skin against yours. Steve slid his hands up your bare spine and bent his head to yours with a low moan as soon as you slipped your arms back around him, sliding your skin against his with a purr.

Steve would have taken your lips again, but your mouth was busy kissing and sucking at his throat even as you shimmied out of the sweats he’d loaned you earlier. “I’d like to make love to you, Steve.” You paused to smile sweetly as you slid your hands up to his shoulders. When you pressed down, he didn’t resist, sitting on the edge of the bed with eyes bright with anticipation. You climbed onto his lap, one thigh on either side of his, slipping your arms around his neck. "If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all," he replied, his voice a little breathless as his hands came up to close around the cheeks of your ass again. Your mouth twitched as you took his lips again.

The anxiety that had been gripping the back of Steve's neck eased as soon as you guided him to the bed. He had been trying to figure out what to do, terrified he might make the wrong move and upset you, or even worse, scare you, when your hands, confident and firm, showed him what you wanted. The relief made him a little lightheaded, but that also might have been the feel of you climbing into his lap.

You combed your fingers through Steve's hair, reveling in the sensation of the thick silk running over your hands. You lifted your head and fisted your hands to gently pull his head back so you could scan his unbelievably beautiful face. His eyes fluttered open and you felt a brief moment of intense jealousy for the thick dark lashes that rimmed his bright blue eyes.

Your eyes were caught in his, adoring that gorgeous touch of green that took his eyes from beautiful to extraordinary. "How are you this fucking pretty?" you whispered, your voice an ache of desire that shuddered through him.

Steve smiled; his heart had been racing, a little scared by the intensity of your expression as your eyes had devoured his face. To hear that you were thinking similar thoughts to those he'd often had about you, his hands slid up the smooth skin of your back to press you closer. He didn't know how to respond, so he ducked his head, his cheeks flaming.

Your heart sighed, charmed and seduced by the sweetness of the big, gorgeous man you found yourself happily twined around. You giggled, an unusually bubbly laugh pouring out of you as you kissed him exuberantly all over his cherry red face. You threw your weight behind it, tumbling the two of you to the bed in a tangle of half-clothed limbs.

You found yourself on your back, Steve braced on one arm over you as the other hand slid up your thigh and over your hip. His touch was feather light even as his hand continued up over your waist and under your shoulder to pull you close as his head dipped to close his mouth around yours.

Steve had placed his knee between yours and was slowly sliding it up to part your thighs in a move so smooth you were hopeful that he'd gotten out of his head a little. The way he was pressing your breasts to his bare chest and his tongue was curling around yours, any nervousness was dissipating. You couldn't be nervous if you tried, the confidence from earlier lingering though the chemicals had worn off. You rubbed yourself against Steve like a cat, prompting a groan from him.

"I love the way you feel." Steve's voice was low and warm, pouring over you like honey and cream. You arched into his hands, shyness and shame washed away in the pure desire you could hear in his voice, see in his eyes, feel in his touch. "You're so soft," he continued as he dipped his head to brush his lips over the supple underside of your jaw. "It's like heaven."

You purred in response, beguiled by the tenderness with which he was making love to you, but becoming impatient in your rising passion. Steve's thigh was now riding against the core of your body and the slight stimulation was making you crazy. However, every touch was a tease, and you were about ready to move onto satisfaction.

You ran your hands over Steve's back and shoulders, testing the play of muscle and panting at the perfection of his skin. You hiked your thigh up over his hip, pulling him gently but inexorably on top of you. You wanted that big, sexy body over you, around you, inside you and you hoped Steve would be willing to fulfill that need.

Steve was only too delighted to fulfill any need, wish, want, or fantasy you might have. If you wanted him on top of you, in between the smooth columns of your thighs, his body finally pressed tight against yours, he would hardly refuse you. With a growl, he braced himself on his elbows, a hand on either side of your head as he kissed you again, both gentle and voracious. With soft lips and painless nips of his teeth, he drove you higher with just the caress of his body pressed from breast to knee against yours.

Now that you had Steve where you wanted him, rubbing against you and sucking tender kisses from your mouth, you arched to unsnap the clasp of your bra. Unconsciously sensual, you tossed the garment to the floor, under Steve's glittering eyes. "My god," he breathed as he sat back on his heels to take in the sight of you bare breasted and wiggling out of your underwear with impatient cheer.

As soon as you were nude, your busy hands were at Steve's waistband, unbuttoning his jeans and dragging them down. Steve laughed and rolled to get rid of the rest of his clothes. You stopped him for a moment when he stood next to the bed, completely naked to your gaze for the first time. Your eyes drank him in, amazed that anyone could come this close to Greek god status and not be an asshole, not to mention mesmerized by the proud erection you were more than ready to put to use. Your voice throbbing with emotion, you looked up at Steve and breathed, "You're almost as beautiful outside as you are inside, Steve."

The sadness around Steve's eyes cleared for a moment, and your heart lifted when, with a grin, he came down on top of you, this time nothing between you. When his cock slid through your already wet folds, thanks to your efforts to twine around him as thoroughly and tightly as possible, Steve murmured against the curve where your shoulder met your neck, his teeth testing the muscle there, "Are we in a hurry?"

"Nope," you whispered hotly back, your breath coiling into his ear where you had been putting your tongue to work on the skin behind his earlobe, something that had him inexplicably shaking in need. "We have all the time in the world," you continued as you rocked your hips slowly, sliding your clitoris against that tempting erection.

Steve rested his forehead against your shoulder, then realized that your tempting breasts were only inches from his lips. He dipped his head further and his hand came up to cup and knead your breast, lifting the nipple to his mouth.

Once his mouth closed over your breast, he began these long, slow sucking pulls that seemed to connect your breast to your cunt, making your core clench. You tilted your hips until the tip of his cock was resting at your entrance.

"Isn’t this out of order?" Steve asked with a moan and a shudder as he resisted the urge to plunge in and ride you like a madman. Your skin, your scent, your slick were all intoxicating him, going to his head and making him forget everything but his need to hear the slap of his flesh on yours.

Your hands were buried in his hair as you savored the anticipation of the moment he would slide inside you. "There is no order," the sex in your tone made Steve tremble in reaction, "I want you inside me. When is up to you.”

Without another word, Steve slid sleekly inside you, his eyes glittering with lust and fixed intensely on yours. Your eyes were fluttering with the effort of keeping them open and on his as you shuddered out a moan you'd never heard yourself make before, need and relief melded.

But you'd never had Steve gliding inside you like he was made for you, the perfect fit. He was rubbing deliciously against your walls, the friction both raw and smooth. When he was fully seated, he paused a moment to pant. It delighted you to know he was as affected by what was happening between you as you were.

"I couldn't wait another second," he murmured, and you melted at the sight of red tinging his cheeks even as he rested thrust to the hilt inside you.

You laughed tightly, your body drawn taut as a bow in anticipation. Though you were soaking wet, you were also stretched almost to the point of pain around him. You could feel him throbbing inside you and were grateful for the pause to catch your breath. "Thank god for that," you moaned in reply.

You gasped when he chuckled as the rumble of his laughter had him moving slightly, sending shockwaves of sensation through you. The tiny motion was exciting rather than painful, however, and had you softening around him. Once he felt you begin to relax, he flexed his hips experimentally to test your response.

He couldn't have been more delighted when you purred in your throat as your eyes fluttered closed and you tightened your thighs around his hips. Steve could hardly believe that this moment was real, that he wasn't dreaming for the hundredth time of making love to you. Part of him was terrified he'd wake up at any moment to discover that none of this astonishing day had been real and he was once again watching you from afar.

Then your eyes were opening to catch his as your lips curled in a sweet smile and he knew nothing in his imagination could compare with the reality of you. Your hands released their tight grip in his hair to slide down and cup his beautiful face. "I can't wait another second, either." You spoke throatily as you began rocking your hips gently up into him, even that small movement delicious enough to have you shuddering.

Steve laughed a little, with a shaky breath, utterly enchanted by you. Smiling at the happy sound, you used your hands on his cheeks to draw his mouth down to yours even as he began to match your rocking movements with gentle thrusts of his own.

Though this tender lovemaking was exquisite in its own right, soon neither of you could stand the restrained sensation. Your arms snaked around his back to hold him closer, your fingers sinking into muscle to grip tight. He shifted his weight so he could thrust harder and faster into you, tearing his mouth from yours to bury it in the curve of your throat with a low growl.

The sound had you arching and moaning in response, loving the sensation of his chest brushing yours as he stroked ever more quickly in and out of you. The feeling was driving you mad, but you never wanted it to stop; you felt like you could live like this, wrapped in and around Steve for all eternity.

You'd turned your face toward where Steve had his mouth pressed to your throat, sucking gentle kisses into your skin. The feeling was sending tremors through you, the sensation combined with those his cock was creating as he pounded ever harder into you. Your mouth wasn't too far from his ear as you breathed commands he was only too happy to obey.

You were climbing higher with every second and had no ability to form coherent sentences anymore. Only one or two words passed your lips at a time, but as they were in the vein of "faster," "harder," "right there," or "god, yes," he wasn't asking for anything more than that. In fact, the sound of your voice telling him how best to please you was the most erotic thing he'd ever heard.

Holding onto his control by his fingernails, it was taking everything Steve had to not let go. He was amazed he'd lasted this long in your tight grip, but he wanted to see you come more than he wanted anything.

With a growl, Steve pushed up until he was sitting on his heels, taking your hips in his hands to shove faster and harder into you. Moaning, you stared into his eyes, yours glittering with lust as your hand came up to rub circles into your clit. Steve's eyes flicked back and forth from your face to that busy hand, his frame quivering with the struggle to not come on the spot.

After watching your movements for a minute, Steve gently moved your hand to replace it with his own, mimicking your motion perfectly. In no time you were coming apart, melting tingles spreading outward from your core and through your body to your fingers and toes and up over your scalp. Steve never stopped moving, either his hand or the steady rocking of his hips and it kept you trembling at the peak of your climax far longer than you'd ever experienced before.

When your moans became desperate and your hands were clenched fists in the sheets, your body arched and taut in the aching pleasure, Steve snapped his tether. One hand hiked your thigh over his hip, his hand closing around your ass to knead the cheek. The other hand came down onto the mattress next to your head as he bent over you once more.

This time, however, Steve was shoving into you faster and harder than ever before and the sensation after the climax you'd just experienced had you nearly climbing the walls, over-sensitive, but somehow again climbing to peak.

"I ca-- I can't stop," he moaned, his forehead resting against yours, his eyes slits as they devoured your face.

"Don't stop!" you cried in a rasp, your body already rocking back into him, chasing the pleasure he could give you. "Who said stop!?"

Steve was smiling at you even as he came inside you with groan, his thrusts erratic but with enough force to push you over the edge into another shuddering orgasm. His smile only widened when you moaned out your pleasure while he bucked into you in ecstasy.

A little while later, Steve sat up from your embrace to drag the blankets over the two of you, concerned by the shivers he’d felt run over your skin. Once he had you covered, he lay back down to pull you close again. “Stay?” he whispered as you snuggled back into his warm embrace.

"As long as you like," you murmured back, happier than you'd been in a very long time. You and Steve hadn't discussed much about the changes to your relationship this day had wrought, but you weren't terribly worried about it. Between the way Steve had taken care of you and the way he'd made love to you, the future seemed incredibly bright.

Steve's arms tightened around you. "I won't be asking you to leave, sweetheart," he replied as he brushed his lips over your forehead, cheeks, and nose on the way to your lips.

You giggled, your heart soaring. "Then don't be surprised when you can't get rid of me."

"Promise?" he asked, smiling happily against your mouth even as his hand wandered back down to your ass. You could feel Steve hardening against you yet again and lifted an amused brow as you nuzzled at his mouth with your own.

Even in the dim light of Steve's bedroom, you could see his cheeks flame even as his smile twisted crookedly. You smiled sultrily and whispered back, "I promise," before taking his mouth in a long kiss designed to enflame. It wasn't long before Steve was pulling you on top of him this time.

* * *

Nearly a week later, you finally caught Natasha alone, sitting at the communal kitchen counter having a cup of coffee and reading the news on her phone.

"Natasha!" You spoke warmly, a genuine smile on your face. You had been trying to corner her for days. If Steve hadn't kept you so occupied, the two of you spending every spare moment together in the typical enchantment of a brand-new, highly anticipated romance, you may have succeeded before now. Still, you didn't have an idle need. "I'm glad I caught you. I had something important to talk to you about."

"How can I help?" she answered, looking up from her phone with an unusually warm smile, at least for her. Steve had been in the best of moods for days now. As long as you made him happy, she was your best friend.

"I discovered that my accident last week was no mistake; my workstation was sabotaged," you said seriously, but with a twinkle in your eye. You had a prime suspect; you were talking to her. "It's odd, though. It seems like it was done only to spray those specific chemicals in my face."

"That is odd," she replied with a slow half-smile. "What a happy accident to befall you. Why tell me, in particular?"

"Because if you didn't do it," you laughed, as you opened the cupboard over the coffee pot for a mug, "you'd be the best person to look into who did."

"And if I did?"

"Thank you." You threw a grin over your shoulder that fairly sparkled with all the love and joy you'd discovered this past week. Natasha could see you couldn't make Steve unhappy, not as long as you adored him just like this.

"You're very welcome."

Natasha smiled warmly at you; it was nice to be appreciated for once.


End file.
